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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 15: Chapter Two - First Foray into the Jianghu, and the Demoness (9)

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With Pyo San gone, the Illyun Society was wiped out in the blink of an eye.

That was only natural.

Even Kang Byeok-un, the society's chairman and strongest member, had only just reached the first-rate level. The Illyun Society was nothing more than a feeble black-path group.

Against them stood Hwa Seo's guards, each a first-rate martial artist, along with Mok Ri-won, a peak-level martial artist. They were hopelessly outmatched.

Once the cleanup was complete, Mok Ri-won returned to Gyeonghwa Pavilion. He found a quiet place and sat cross-legged.

He was gathering the insight he had gained from his duel with Pyo San.

'Star-Linking has fully reached three stars.'

The energy of the Star-Linking Divine Technique coursing through his body formed three clear stars.

When he had first entered the martial world, the third star had still been faint. He could say he had gained a great deal from this one duel.

It was certainly an achievement worth celebrating.

Yet when Mok Ri-won finished settling his internal energy and opened his eyes, there was little satisfaction on his face.

'...I couldn't completely suppress my murderous impulse.'

That was what continued to trouble him.

Eleven years had passed since he began learning martial arts in earnest, and he had not missed a single day of training. Even so, the sight of blood still clouded his reason.

One might ask why he had failed to control his murderous impulse even after all that time. But seen another way, it only showed just how vicious the peculiar nature brought on by the Heavenly Slaughter Star truly was.

Mok Ri-won recalled Ma Il-seok's warning.

"When you enter the martial world and face a real duel, you'll feel urges stronger than anything before. The killing intent you feel when you trade killing moves while seeking each other's lives will be different from what you felt sparring with my elder brother."

His words had been right.

The killing intent that came at him every moment, aimed at his life.

The clinging negative emotions.

All of it was a new kind of stimulus Mok Ri-won had never experienced before.

"Hup...!"

Mok Ri-won drew another breath.

Then he shook off the gloom welling up inside him and rose to his feet.

'I just need to be more careful from now on.'

He had neglected the matter while forcing himself onward, but whatever the case, he had not ruined anything because of his murderous impulse. That had to count as half a success.

If he kept moving forward like this, he would one day be able to fully suppress the Heavenly Slaughter Star.

Mok Ri-won deliberately dwelled on hopeful thoughts and smiled.

Then he started walking.

'I should go see the young lady.'

She had looked deeply troubled when he saw her on the way back. She would need comfort.

How warm was it to know that someone would remain at one's side through difficult times?

If he offered her a few comforting words, Hwa Seo would surely smile brightly.

His heart bounced at the thought, and Mok Ri-won hurried toward the top floor of the pleasure house.

Then he heard words that made him doubt his ears.

* * *

"Y-you're selling the pleasure house?!"

On the top floor of Gyeonghwa Pavilion, Mok Ri-won cried out in wild alarm.

Hwa Seo looked at him. The dashing figure from earlier that day was nowhere to be seen. Mok Ri-won was back to making a fool of himself.

A smile lingered at the corners of her lips.

"Yes. There is no longer any reason for me to stay here."

"W-why not? Nothing is troubling you anymore! You should have nothing but success and happy days ahead of you...!"

From Mok Ri-won's perspective, it was a natural question.

They had gone through all that trouble to defeat the villains and make the pleasure house safe, only for all that effort to become meaningless.

Wanting to know why she had made such a choice, he continued questioning her. Hwa Seo answered again.

"There is something I must do."

"Something you must do?"

"Yes. It is something I have feared facing, so I have spent all this time running from it. To use your words, they are debts and grudges."

Mok Ri-won flinched.

"Debts and grudges..."

"As you know, I am a martial artist. My realm is quite high as well. Haven't you wondered why someone like me runs a pleasure house in a place like this?"

Of course he had wondered.

When he first came looking for Hwa Seo, he had even found the circumstances suspicious.

But after getting to know her, that question had faded away.

"...I only thought you must have had your reasons."

"If you let things pass so carelessly, you will surely come to harm someday. You should make a habit of being more suspicious."

"..."

"In any case, I intend to stop running. That is why I am selling the pleasure house."

As she spoke, Hwa Seo looked at Mok Ri-won.

Even while fretting with that handsome face, he looked like a painting.

The thought crossed her mind for an instant. She quickly dismissed it, rose from her seat, and spoke to him.

"Thank you, Young Hero."

"Uh, hm...?"

"You gave me courage. If it had not been for you, I might have spent my entire life running. Or I might have failed to escape and ended up hanging myself."

Hwa Seo clasped her fist in her palm.

Her proper stance and slight bow made her look like a painting.

"I thought I had been pursuing practical gain all this time. But now I realize it was only an excuse I made for myself while running away. Young Hero, you made me realize that."

"Miss..."

"You are the benefactor who taught me what chivalry means."

Hwa Seo hated the Sichuan Tang Clan.

The people who made up that family, its ironclad rules, and its culture.

She rejected all of it, yet even Hwa Seo could acknowledge perhaps half of one of the clan's rules.

'Repay kindness twofold.'

Grudges could be dealt with when the time came, but favors should be repaid twice over. At least that much, she agreed with.

Mok Ri-won felt awkward as he watched Hwa Seo stand before him with her fist-and-palm salute.

Still, something warm rose in his chest. It was a sense of accomplishment.

'Young Hero...'

The satisfaction of having acted in a manner worthy of that title, of having changed someone's life, made Mok Ri-won's heart swell.

He scratched the back of his head for no reason.

After looking off into space and working his lips for a while, he finally returned her salute.

He clasped his fist in his palm just as she had.

"I only did what I had to do!"

Thinking he had created an incredibly dashing scene, Mok Ri-won broke into a foolish grin.

Hwa Seo could only laugh softly and ask him, "Where will you go now, Young Hero?"

"Hm? Me?"

"Yes. You said you entered the martial world to carry out chivalrous deeds. Haven't you decided on a destination, at least?"

Mok Ri-won froze.

His mouth clamped shut, and his eyes began to tremble as though an earthquake had struck.

'N-no, I haven't...'

He had simply rushed into the martial world, thinking he would find somewhere to go once he got there.

He had planned to visit a few famous places Mok Seon-o and Ma Il-seok had told him about. If he got lost, he figured he could use the Beggars' Sect token Ma Il-seok had given him.

He had not thought beyond that.

Mok Ri-won's body twitched in flustered silence.

That alone was enough for Hwa Seo to know the answer.

Disbelief crossed her face.

"...You have no plan?"

"Well..."

"You just charged into the martial world without a thought?"

There had to be limits to how innocent someone could be. What had his masters been thinking, sending someone like that out alone?

Yet this was something even Mok Ri-won's two masters had not anticipated.

They lived in a deep mountain valley in Jiangxi Province. Their daily routine consisted of chores that had not changed in years, and Mok Ri-won had always been a capable young man they could trust with every task in the valley.

Since he had been so competent there, they had assumed he would be able to take care of himself after entering the martial world.

"Young Hero...?"

"...I-I intended to travel wherever my feet took me."

It was a pathetic excuse.

At his answer, unease suddenly welled up inside Hwa Seo.

Would this foolish, innocent man be cheated somewhere?

No, being cheated would be the better outcome. With that face of his, he might be sold off as a servant.

'In the worst case...'

What if he got lost in the mountains and died alone?

A chill ran through Hwa Seo's body.

Her face turned pale.

She felt as though she were watching a child left near the water.

'Absolutely not...!'

She could not send him off alone.

The thought came to her unbidden, and Hwa Seo made him an offer.

"Then would you like to come with me?"

"With you, Miss?"

"Yes. If you have nothing urgent to do, come with me."

She spoke as if it were no great matter, but in Hwa Seo's mind, Mok Ri-won had already become a corpse.

There was only one reason for her decision.

'If I keep him with me, I can at least cram some common sense into that thick head of his.'

If her benefactor was sold as a servant or died alone in some mountain valley, she would never sleep peacefully again.

At her offer, Mok Ri-won asked, "Where are you going?"

"I will stop by Anhui, then head to Henan."

"Henan means..."

"Shaolin Temple."

Mok Ri-won sucked in a breath.

Light began to shine in his eyes.

Hwa Seo snorted at the sight.

'...Of course. I knew this would happen.'

Mok Ri-won treated Tales of Martial Heroes like a religion.

Shaolin Temple always appeared as one of the righteous forces in that book, so it was more than enough to stir his interest.

Still, it would be best to drive the nail in firmly.

Hwa Seo tempted Mok Ri-won's childlike heart once more.

"There is someone I need to see at Shaolin Temple. There is also a reason I must stop in Anhui first."

"Anhui!"

"Yes. Anhui, where the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Families, resides."

"That's right! Anhui, where Namgung Hyeok, the Sword King, lives!"

Mok Ri-won was already kneeling on the ground.

Hwa Seo nodded and added, "Spring is nearly over. At this time of year, there is always an event in the orthodox martial world."

"The orthodox sects...! Spring...! An event...!"

Expectation grew even stronger on Mok Ri-won's face.

Thinking, 'He's much too easy,' Hwa Seo spoke the words that would strike at his heart.

"The Dragon Phoenix Gathering. This year, it is being held in Anhui."

That was all it took.

Thump!

Mok Ri-won slammed his forehead against the floor.

Then, in a voice that sounded downright pitiful, he pleaded.

"Please take me with you!!!"

The Dragon Phoenix Gathering.

A festival where the young rising talents of prestigious orthodox factions gathered to discuss martial arts.

It was an event filled with the martial arts and chivalry Mok Ri-won longed for.

Hwa Seo looked down at the round back of Mok Ri-won's head and smiled.

"I look forward to traveling with you."

* * *

It did not take long to settle the affairs of the pleasure house.

With the Illyun Society gone, Gyeonghwa Pavilion was the largest pleasure house in Jiangxi Province. That fact alone meant there were many who wanted it.

If she had been more careful, Hwa Seo could have sold it for a high price.

But time mattered more to her than a bit of money. She sold Gyeonghwa Pavilion for the price she had paid and set out.

On the main road beyond Suyang County, Hwa Seo looked back at the county in the distance and sank into thought.

'My flight ends here.'

She had decided to hide and live out the rest of her life.

But nothing would change if she did. It was better to choose the path of fighting back.

The Tang Clan was persistent.

They also possessed poisonous hearts that stopped at nothing.

'Then I, too...'

To face them, she would have to embrace that same poisonous resolve.

Hwa Seo's eyes shone coldly.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

She would stop at nothing against them.

"Hyang, it is time for us to part."

Hwa Seo turned to the attendants who had guarded her all this time.

They listened to her with their heads deeply lowered.

"While I am away at Shaolin, find out what the family is doing."

"As you command."

No lengthy words were needed.

The attendants who had always protected Hwa Seo left only those words behind before stepping back.

Yet one person remained, her closest attendant, So Hyang.

Watching Hwa Seo prepare to leave, she added one last thing.

"You must take care of yourself."

"You worry too much. Isn't Young Hero Mok traveling with me?"

Mok Ri-won beamed at the words "Young Hero Mok" and nodded.

"Leave it to me!"

It was because he was the one she did not trust.

Unable to say what she truly thought, So Hyang only glared at him. Then she sighed and gave her final farewell.

"I should be going as well. The letters..."

“Yes. Send them through the ‘circle.’”

So Hyang bowed deeply.

Then she departed like the others.

Now that he and Hwa Seo were alone, Mok Ri-won spoke with undisguised excitement.

"At last, we depart! Anhui! The Dragon Phoenix Gathering! Just thinking of going there makes this Mok Ri-won's heart pound!"

"There will be nothing worth getting so excited about. It is only a gathering of youngsters."

"Aren't you young too, Miss?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Mok Ri-won realized he had never known Hwa Seo's exact age.

When he looked at her, Hwa Seo noticed his expression and gave a small laugh.

"Yes, I am not so old either. I am twenty-two this year."

"Ah, so you're older than me!"

"You do not need to stand on ceremony with me."

Hwa Seo waved a hand.

Happy to have learned a little more about her, Mok Ri-won gave her a fist-and-palm salute.

"Mm! Understood! Then I shall continue calling you Miss Yeon-hwa, as I have until now!"

Miss Yeon-hwa.

'Come to think of it, I did use that name.'

Why had he thought the owner of a pleasure house would use her real name?

Hwa Seo let out a quiet laugh at the sight of innocent Mok Ri-won, then looked directly at him.

"My name is Hwa Seo."

"Hm?"

"My real name is Hwa Seo. Yeon-hwa was an alias I made while I was fleeing."

Mok Ri-won's mouth fell open.

His eyes were thick with belated betrayal.

'He is amusing.'

No matter what she said, his reactions were always so good. He really was a man worth teasing.

'The journey will not be boring.'

Thinking this might become an enjoyable trip, Hwa Seo clasped her fist in her palm toward Mok Ri-won.

Then she introduced herself properly once more.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly at last. I am Hwa Seo, Dang Hwa-seo."

"Dang...?"

Mok Ri-won's face went blank.

Hwa Seo happily recalled Mok Ri-won's earlier introduction.

"Mok Ri-won! I do not have an epithet yet!"

It was a childish thought, but she wondered how Mok Ri-won, who cared so much about epithets, would react when she revealed this to him.

Smiling, Hwa Seo continued.

"Once, the martial world called me the Poison Phoenix."

What followed was exactly as she had expected.

Mok Ri-won's reaction was so predictable that Dang Hwa-seo, who had finally sworn to stand as Dang Hwa-seo again, burst into the greatest laughter of her life.

Their journey began with clear laughter.

Dang Hwa-seo's expectation that it would be an enjoyable trip did not even last three days before it shattered completely.

Footnotes:

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